Celebration of feminine spirit in “Phenomenal woman” and “Still I rise” by Maya

Angelou

The world always count woman as a relative being of men. In our contemporary tho
ught men is count ed as general being and woman as negative being. It has been r
ooted to our conventional thought that a woman’s entity is impossible without me
n and unfortunately woman of society got convinced. But here in this two poem Ma
ya Angelou talks about power and celebration of feminine entity by breaking off
the general myth.
In “the phenomenal woman” she present a woman who doesn’t exist for the sake of
men rather she is proud and confident as a woman herself . She is not confident
because she is pretty or trendy rather she is proud to be a women who is a treas
ure herself. Every part and curves of her body make men fall down on their knees
. Her inner mystery and beauty is so alluring that men gets blind and wonder wha
t is so captivating about her .
“It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.”
In most of the cases women themselves feel wary because of her body. She feels i
nferior and can’t find her identity in a world where her main weakness is her bo
dy. Women insecurities about her body slowly becomes a curse in her life. In soc
iety and in many religion woman’s body are labeled as territory of sin . But her
e Maya Angelou is saying that every part of a woman’s body declares beauty and p
ower. So rather than hating her body a woman should love her body which is beaut
iful. In the grace of her style, in the curve of her body and in the shine of he
r smile the power and wealth of her being sparks. Rather than man women have so
many asset to be proud about and she should empower her mind like that. And the
poet suggest that woman who celebrates her spirit and feel proud about her can w
in the world. Because the world want phenomenal women who loves herself and can
love the whole world. In the poem Angelou is telling the women to be like her. B
ecause throughout her life she went through inhuman struggle . but she conquerer
her self-doubt and is known as warrior. She is asking every woman to follow her
to establish their identity. That is why she is repeating again and again:
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
“still I rise” the very tittle gives the sense of power and stong entity. Histor
y or “his story” is full of lie and she knows the cruel irony of it. She is beyo
nd any oppression and lies. “like dust, I’ll rise” she states. She compared hers
elf with all the force which cannot be stopped like sun, moon, hopes, air, etc.
Also the ‘oil wells” , “gold mine” and “diamond” these treasure are available in
Africa and belongs to the black people .So they are rich . But these three natu
ral resources also indicates woman’s private body parts. . these natural resourc
es hidden beneath the earth, hidden from sight, and they have to be mined in ord
er to be discovered. The same is true of black women’s characteristics the sassi
ness, haughtiness, and sexiness. Generally woman’s body is identified weakness a
nd dependence to other.Maya Angelou gives quite different opinion. From her poin
t of view woman’s body is the powerful form .The poem actually mocking at men an
d the ruler both and challenging them that they can not stop her from rising. Th
e poet thinks that laugh is a revenge itself and the tone of the poem suggest th
at she is actually laughing at the others who are trying to threatening her .
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts
that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
The spirit of women and black people who are being opressed over the decades .th
is poem gives inspiration and encourage to be fearless and gives the hope of vic
tory. No matter now fearful and painful their history is they will rise.
In this two poem mostly the theme is same .Both of the poem gives the idea of ce
lebrating female identity and feminine spirit. Also inspire woman to love themse
lves no matter how hard reality is.